European Foreign Policy Unit

The European Foreign Policy Unit (EFPU) acts as a focus for research and teaching on issues relating to the attempts to create a collective European foreign policy. The International Relations Department is one of the world's leading centres for research into European foreign policy, and EFPU aims to build on and contribute to that reputation.

Research

EFPU members are currently researching and writing on topics such as the European Union's policies towards the Mediterranean and Middle East region; the EU's relations with south-eastern Europe; EU-UN relations; European diplomacy; and EU trade policy. For more information on EFPU members, click on the links below:

EFPU members have contibuted evidence to two recent UK parliament enquiries: 1) the House of Lords Subcommittee on EU external affairs, inquiry on the review of the EU's security strategy; 2) the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, inquiry on the implications of Brexit for UK foreign policy.

Dr Economides was Visiting Fellow at the EU Centre in Singapore from mid-August to mid-September 2015. He completed a project on ‘EU Foreign Policy and the Rise of Revisionist Powers’, and gave a number of lectures and seminars on EU foreign policy, and on the implications of the current eurozone crisis for Europe’s external relations.

EFPU members contributed evidence to the UK Government's Review of the Balance of Competences between the UK and the EU: Enlargement. The evidence, submitted by Dr Economides, Dr Sedelmeier and Professor Smith, was cited extensively in the December 2014 report, which can be read here.

Dr Bicchi presented research to SAIS Europe (Bologna, Italy) on 4 December 2014 on Europe's strategy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Watch the video here.

Ongoing and past research projects:

From October 2015 to September 2018, EFPU members Prof Smith and Dr Economides are participating in the Jean Monnet network on EU-UN relations (EUN-NET). There will be teaching and research activities, and public events. More information is available on the network's website.

From October 2014 to September 2017, EFPU is participating in the ANTERO Jean Monnet Network, which addresses the needs of teaching, education and research on EU foreign policy. ANTERO is led by Professor Ben Tonra of University College Dublin, and involves institutions across the EU. More information on ANTERO is available on the ANTERO website.

Between 2002 and 2005, EFPU was the British member of FORNET - a European Foreign Policy Research Network - the first attempt to co-ordinate a network of researchers across Europe focusing on foreign policy governance. Between 2005 and 2009, Karen E Smith led a team of researchers in the EU-funded research programme entitled Challenge (the Changing Landscape of European Liberty and Security). In addition, some EFPU members were active in the EU-funded research network, EU-CONSENT , which linked researchers working on EU reform and enlargement.

Publications

The EFPU Working Paper series showcases research conducted by EFPU members as well as by other academics working in the field of European foreign policy. If you wish to submit a paper to be considered for publication in the series, please contact Professor Karen E. Smith ( k.e.smith@lse.ac.uk ).

The LSE team's principal contribution to the Challenge research programme was a series of research papers, available here: LSE-Challenge working papers

The first project undertaken by EFPU was the edited publication by Christopher Hill and Karen E. Smith, European Foreign Policy: Key Documents (Routledge, 2000). It provides students and scholars with access to key documents relating to the practices of European foreign policy from 1948 to 2000, along with commentary and bibliographic guidance.

Events

Save the date! EFPU will host a symposium on Professor Christopher Hill's work on European foreign policy, on 12 May 2017. Further details will be posted shortly.

Roundtable on 'Brexit and EU Foreign Policy: the view from other EU member states’ with Ben Tonra, Stephen Keukeleire, Annegret Bendiek, Christian Lequesne and Petr Kratochvil; 9 March 2016. A blog post on the roundtable is available here.

Teaching

EFPU members actively contribute to teaching on the subject at LSE. At the doctoral level, EFPU members run a research workshop on European International Politics..At the masters level, EFPU members teach several courses in the subject area: The EU in the World; European Security and Defence; The International Politics of EU Enlargement;,EU Policy-Making in a Global Context; and Europe, the US and the Middle East. These courses are available primarily to students on the MSc International Relations/Msc in International Relations (Research) and the MSc EU Politics.

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